This blog was created by the Purdue Beef Team as an educational forum for beef producers and Extension educators. It includes timely news, issues, and management tips that have the potential to affect the beef business and decision-making process. Opinions expressed in the news clips do not necessarily represent those of Purdue University or the beef industry.

While much of Ohio has been blessed with adequate precipitation and ample forage growth thus far, a “summer slump” as we move into what are typically the hottest and drier months of the year is inevitable. This week, summer pasture management is a focus of the BEEF Cattle letter.

Share this:

Like this:

Posted onJuly 5, 2006|Comments Off on Dolly was world’s hello to cloning’s possibilities

Dolly was world’s hello to cloning’s possibilities

By Elizabeth Weise, USA TODAY

Dolly the sheep, the first mammal cloned from an adult cell, was born 10 years ago Wednesday, a birth met with elation by scientists who see cloning as a potential cure for illnesses and alarm by those who are fearful of a future populated by less-than-human clones.

But Ian Wilmut, the scientist whose team at Scotland’s Roslin Institute cloned Dolly — born July 5, 1996, and euthanized in 2003 because of lung disease — says the most interesting thing about the past decade is what has not happened.

Wilmut, who has been in North America speaking at scientific conferences and promoting his book After Dolly: The Uses and Misuses of Cloning, says scientists have not fully succeeded in cloning human embryos, and it could be decades before it happens.

TORONTO — Canada confirmed on Tuesday its sixth case of mad cow disease and said it would investigate where the cow was born and what other animals may have eaten the same feed.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said test results confirmed what was suspected last week. The animal was at least 15 years of age, and was born before Canada implemented restrictions on potentially dangerous feed in 1997.

The agency said it was launching an investigation.

Mad cow disease is believed to spread through feed, when cows eat the contaminated tissue of other cattle. Humans can get a related disease, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, in similar fashion – by eating meat contaminated with mad cow. There have been more than 150 human deaths worldwide linked to the variant.

COLLEGE STATION – A recent Texas Agricultural Experiment Station study indicates cattle fed longer on certain diets will produce beef with more of the “good” kind of fat.

Dr. Stephen Smith, Experiment Station professor of animal science in College Station, said the study showed the longer cattle were fed corn, the more monounsaturated – and less saturated – fat they produced. Monounsaturated fats are currently viewed as being healthier than other dietary fats, Smith said.

Many discussions are focused on cattle shrink because the market value of cattle is a function of weight times price. Weight and price constantly change.

As a result, cattle marketing can be very confusing because buyers and sellers try to compensate for this change by predicting or estimating values for the factors involved. The same question arises when producers work cattle.

A common and true response is “working cattle costs me money.” This is where good management is needed to decide when one step back results in two steps forward. The Dickinson Research Extension Center faces this dilemma in its work with cattle identification.

When does the identification effort bring a financial reward? Not a simple question, but the DREC is constantly trying to piece together all the components.

Share this:

Like this:

Posted onJuly 5, 2006|Comments Off on Have your ethics and profits, too

Have your ethics and profits, too

Kristal Arnold, Food System Insider
karnold@vancepublishing.com

Before you take a bite of that vanilla caramel fudge ice cream, Ben & Jerry’s wants you to consider small-scale farming. The famed ice cream company is trying to address social and environmental issues one scoop at a time and last fall launched an ad campaign centered on social consciousness rather than ice cream.

Ben & Jerry’s joined an expanding group of companies that are finding that when it comes to focusing on social and environmental issues, they can have their cake and eat it, too. Companies are reaping benefits, including increased profits but often over and above, when they proactively address issues ranging from antibiotics and animal welfare to obesity and fair trade.